With all six suspects in the Newark schoolyard murders behind bars, you might think Police Director Garry McCarthy would have a smile on his face.

"It's a really solid case," he says. "There's no reason we should not get a conviction on every single one of these guys."

But he is barely pausing to savor the moment. The man looks exhausted. And he says he still has a mountain of work ahead of him. Smiling is for politicians.

Maybe his hard attitude comes from the certain knowledge that more murders will be coming his way soon. Or because after 10 months on the job, he's only begun to make repairs to this dysfunctional department.

Maybe it comes from his childhood in the Bronx, where eight of his 10 best friends were shot, jailed or otherwise "lost to the streets."

Whatever it is that makes McCarthy burn, you have to hope he doesn't run out of juice anytime soon. Because he's off to a strong start.

Crime is down across the board in Newark. Reported rapes, robberies and burglaries are down by an average of more than 20 percent this year. The number of people shot is down by about 30 percent, a number that's more convincing because it's almost impossible to fudge.

Even murders, which have been rising in most cities, are finally edging down in Newark.

Talk about these numbers, and you risk sounding callous. Because this city is still bleeding, and no one is declaring victory.

Still, McCarthy is making undeniable progress by bringing to Newark the crime-fighting strategies he honed as a senior commander in New York City.

And while most people pin Newark's hopes on Mayor Cory Booker, the young star who gets the headlines, it is the guy standing behind him on the podium, the kid from the Bronx, who really holds the city's immediate fate in his hands.

Because Booker can't succeed until McCarthy first gets the violence under control. And the city is still a long way from that goal.

In the first half of this year, police received reports of 665 robberies in Newark, nearly four a day. Aggravated assaults were even more common. In an average week, two people were murdered.

"The numbers are going down, but we still don't feel safe," says Councilman Ron Rice Jr. "I would give him excellent grades as far as where the department is going. And I fully expect that we're going to see even more drops in crime."

So how is McCarthy doing it?

Consider first what a mess he inherited. Nearly one in three officers was doing no police work when McCarthy arrived last fall. They were answering phones, delivering mail and filing reports.

The gang unit worked from Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. - probably the only time that gangs are not active in Newark. There was no specialized narcotics unit, and the monthly budget for undercover drug buys was $500.

A consultant's report found rampant patronage, with plum assignments given to those with political friends. Despite severe shortages of cars, computers and bullet-proof vests, no one bothered to claim federal grants that were available.

McCarthy is taking this step by step. He began by forcing his cops to work at night, and on weekends. The portion doing no police work is down to 10 percent now, and will drop further.

He established a narcotics unit and an intelligence unit to keep track of suspects who move from one precinct to another. A new warrants squad with 18 officers spends all day tracking down fugitives, a rich source of arrests.

"In the past, we didn't go out looking for them, we just arrested them when we came across them for speeding or whatever," McCarthy says. "Now we go after them. We've arrested 33 people for shootings based on the warrants squad, and five murderers."

Police are being ordered to get out of their cars more often, and to enforce quality of life laws, like those against public drinking. The larger purpose is to check on whether those violators are wanted for more serious crimes, or are carrying guns.

"The guys who carry guns in their waistbands are also drinking beer on the corner," McCarthy says. "And if you can stop a guy from carrying a gun in his waistband, you can stop the shootings over parking spaces, or over them bumping into each other and feeling disrespected.

"We haven't been as successful at stopping the shootings between two narcotics groups who are looking to kill each other, where a guy jumps out of a car and fires 16 rounds at somebody after he chases him down a street."

The list of reforms goes on. Will they work?

A lot depends on how you define success. McCarthy can replace the fathers who have abandoned their children to the streets. He can't create the jobs people need. He can't even stop lenient judges from releasing the thugs his guys manage to put in handcuffs.

Still, his history in New York showed him that effective police work can make a huge difference.

"Some days here are better than others," McCarthy says. "But we get a lot out of what we do. I really feel strongly there's so much impact that can be made on this city with a good effective police agency. I'm optimistic about where we're going to end up."

Imagine that. Optimism about reducing violence in Newark. And from a guy who seems to know how to make it happen.